We're Rivals
by Bandit1030
Summary: Decided to participate in Klance Week! Whoo! Here's my go at it! Day 1 (4th) - Red/Blue Keith planned on having a nice, quiet pokemon journey, but that wasn't going to happen when the talkative trainer named Lance decided the two were going to travel together.


**Klance Week 2k16 day 1 - Red/Blue. I did put a little bit of Spanish in this so please tell me if it's wrong because I don't speak it well. I'm still learning. I want to stay respectful, so I would really appreciate any corrections.**

 **Prompt 1 (4th) - Red/Blue - We're Rivals**

"Why do you have to keep following me around?" Keith asked, irritated, as he continue his fast-walking; following the trail through the forest.

"Because we're rivals. We have to travel together so that I can make sure you don't get ahead of me. We have to stay neck and neck. You know?" Lance explained, like it should be obvious to Keith, as he jogged to catch up with Keith and match their paces. Keith rolled his eyes but allowed the other to walk beside him.

Keith had met Lance a couple days ago by chance. He had been traveling around looking for some new pokemon to add to his team. Lucky enough, there had been an event at one of the nearby pokemon centers where they were giving out pokemon that had been left behind to good homes. The nurses weren't able to take care of them all anymore. It was sad that they were left behind in the first place but at least now they had a second chance. Keith had decided to adopt the torchic that had been following him around the center the entire time he was looking around, and named her Red. Apparently her old trainer was an ass who hatched pokemon until they found a good one and abandoned the rest. Keith really hated people like that. Lance had happened to be at that same center, finding and adopting a small vaporeon that didn't seem to let anyone touch her besides Lance. He named her Blue.

Lance had been the one to approach him first.

"You! You're Keith Kogane, right?" The taller boy had pointed and yelled to him, rushing over to where Keith had been relaxing on one of the many couches in the center.

"Uh… yes?" Keith didn't know how to respond to the sudden outburst. "And you are?"

"Um, I'm Lance. Lance McClain. You seriously don't know who I am?" He looked genuinely upset that Keith didn't know who he was. It confused Keith to say the least.

"Am I supposed to? And how do you know who I am?"

"We went to Trainers School together. We were rivals." Oh yah. The guy who always thought Keith was trying to one-up him. Keith had never really been trying to, he just really liked to train and be good at things.

"We were never rivals." Keith responds. Lance gasps loudly. Shit, he probably thought Keith meant that he never even acknowledged him as a rival because he thought he was better than Lance. Which wasn't true at all, but Lance would never believe that answer and Keith's pride was too big to say otherwise.

"Fine. I'll prove to you, Mullet Boy, that we are rivals. I'll make sure you never get ahead of me again!" Lance announced. At that time Keith hadn't understood what that would entail. Now though, he was regretting ever acknowledging Lance in the first place. It had been two days since their first encounter and Lance was still going strong. Keith had tried everything to get the other boy off his tail. Walking through brambles, climbing rocky hills, you name it. He had given up early on though after realizing that Lance was too stubborn to give up. But two could play at that game; and, if Lance wanted them to be rivals, then rivals they would be.

The two had been traveling in relative comfort. Keith and Lance walked side by side and Lance's new vaporeon, Blue, was sleeping soundly on his shoulders. Keith's torchic seemed content to just sit in his backpack. It was quiet and, dare Keith say it, nice. That is, until Lance started singing. It had started out quiet and progressively got louder until he was obnoxiously belting out lyrics to "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira.

"Could you shut up? Or at least sing something better than Shakira?" Keith snapped at the trainer walking next to him. He just couldn't take it anymore. Lance looked like he was debating something in his mind for a moment.

"Hm. Nope." Lance made sure to pop the p at the end for emphasis. "And Shakira is amazing. I'm offended that you would even say such a thing." Lance feigned hurt.

"I'm more of a rock person." Keith responded.

"Oh I get it. You're the angsty, emo teenager type who listens to Pierce the Veil and MCR and tells people 'it's not a phase'." Keith rolls his eyes.

"I am not emo. And at least my music is good. You have terrible taste in music."

"I'm going to pretend I never heard that." Lance crossed his arms over his chest and pouts. Keith scoffed, but let a small smile play at his lips when Lance wasn't looking.

Lance wasn't always bad to be around. Keith would never admit it to him but he sometimes liked the other's stupid jokes and memes. He had gotten used to traveling with the louder companion, and after being together for a month, he would maybe even consider Lance a friend. Maybe. Keith glanced over at Lance from where he was resting. They had decided to take a break and rest for the night since it was getting late. Lance was sitting on his sleeping bag looking at his phone, Blue perched on his head and watched what he was doing intently. Keith had been eating a package of crackers but had eventually ended up caving and sharing them with Red since she kept giving him those adorable pleading eyes. She had been getting stronger lately and Keith was almost positive she was going to evolve soon.

They had been sitting in a relatively peaceful silence. "Hey, Keith." Lance started, breaking the silence. Keith looked up from feeding Red to look over at Lance and hmed in acknowledgement. "When we get to the next town tomorrow there's something I want to do."

"Really? What?" Keith asked, genuinely curious.

"It's a surprise." Lance smirked over at him.

Keith was an impatient person so you could say he was pretty relieved to finally get to the next town and find out what Lance's 'surprise' was. He had tried getting it out of the other boy on the way but he wouldn't budge. It had ended in quite a few bickerings as Lance would work his way out by changing the subject, usually by irking Keith in some way. Which, honestly, wasn't that hard to do.

Keith followed Lance around the town for a while before they finally stopped at a Pokemon Daycare. Keith furrowed his brows. "Your surprise was a pokemon daycare?"

"Of course! Now come on! Let's go inside!" Lance spoke excitedly, grabbing Keith's hand and pulling him inside, never noticing the bright blush on Keith's face. "I'm home!" Lance yelled as they walked inside. It wasn't even one second after the two walked in the door that there was a loud commotion and it was getting louder fast. It sounded like a stampede was coming their way. A stampede of barking pokemon. One minute Lance was standing next to Keith and the next he was down on the ground laughing, getting literally dog piled. Keith took a quick step back to avoid the pokemon, their attention on Lance at the moment. Four furry bodies were piled on the boy, licking his face and hands as he tried to shove them off of him half-heartedly. From what Keith could tell, there was a Growlithe, Houndoom, Mightyena, and Herdier all attacking Lance with licks and wagging tails. Keith couldn't help but smile at the sight of Lance being so happy with the dogs.

Watching Lance laugh with the dogs made Keith's chest flutter in ways he'd never felt before. He didn't know what to think about the feeling, but he supposed it could wait for later as he noticed someone else walk into the room. "¿Lance? ¿Eres tu?" The woman spoke from the other door way. She spoke with a heavy Spanish accent, it was most likely her first language, Keith thought.

"Sí, mamá." Lance spoke through his pile, voice slightly muffled. He finally got the pokemon off him as he stood up, the dogs sitting at his feet expectantly. The woman, Lance's mom, walked over to them and engulfed Lance in a large hug.

"Mi hijo, it's been so long."

"It's been, like, two months, mamá." Lance replied, hugging her back.

"That's too long! You need to visit more often!" She whacked him on the head gently, breaking the hug. Lance moved his hand instinctively to his head where she had hit him even though it hadn't hurt. He had a large grin on his face still.

"Lo siento." Lance laughingly apologized. She smiled back to him before noticing Keith in the room. He had been standing awkwardly to the side, not really knowing what to do other than stand there and watch.

"And who's this?" She asked, gesturing to Keith. "¿Es su novio? Es muy guapo." She spoke, elbowing Lance and giving a sly smirk. Keith has no clue what she said but Lance sputters, his face turning bright red at the question.

"No! No! No! ¡Él es sólo un amigo!" Lance quickly answers, waving his hands frantically. "This is my friend, Keith." He gestures at Keith and Keith gives an awkward smile and small wave.

"Hi." Keith says quietly, still not quite sure what's going on. He offers her his hand to shake.

"Hola, Keith. I'm Lance's mom, but you can call me Rosa." She ignores Keith's hand and pulls him into a small hug before letting him go. He nods in acknowledgement.

After a long conversation that Keith only understood half of they decided they would stay the night and then head off again the next day. Once Lance's mom had left to go prepare dinner Lance turned to Keith. "Well I guess I should show you around quick."

"Sure." Keith nodded.

The daycare looked basically like any other normal house on the inside. They had their family room, kitchen, office, and bathroom. There were also stairs to go to the second floor. Lance had quite a few siblings so they had quite a few bedrooms upstairs. Most of his siblings were out right now on their own travels, besides one older brother that was apparently outside in the backyard taking care of the pokemon. Lance and Keith had already decided they would just use the bunk bed in Lance's room.

They went back downstairs once Lance had finished showing Keith around. Lance was very excited to show Keith the backyard and shed, saying it was "his favorite place and Keith absolutely had to see it", excitedly yanking Keith out by the hand.

When Keith and Lance had first gotten to the house they had let their pokemon out to wander and they now found them outside playing with the other pokemon. Keith had known about the dogs, but there was even more pokemon outside. Of course, it was a daycare, so that was to be expected, but Keith was still surprised. Red and Blue were playing with a small Tyrunt and a Braixen. Blue had gotten a lot better with people and pokemon alike in the time she had been with Lance. Red wasn't as clingy, worried Keith would leave her, as she used to be too. The dogs seemed to be all taking a nap together under the shade of a tree in the fenced in yard. There were also a few other pokemon, but Keith didn't have time to look closely before he was being pulled again, heading towards the shed in a corner of the yard.

"I'm back, Bailey." Lance said as they entered the shed. It was a lot bigger on the inside than Keith would have imagined. There was another person in the shed. He was quite tall and pretty well built. Basically an older looking version of Lance. Lance's brother, Keith assumed, Bailey, turned around to look over to them and smiled at Lance. "This is my friend Keith by the way. We're traveling together." Bailey smiled over at Keith too.

"Nice to meet you, Keith." Bailey spoke.

"Nice to meet you too." Bailey extended his hand to Keith's and Keith took it, shaking it lightly and then letting go.

"Welcome to the nursery." Bailey opened his arms in emphasis. Keith finally looked around the large room. In one area there were a bunch of egg incubators, and in another area there were a bunch of what looked like baby cribs with baby pokemon in them. One of the pokemon noticed them and started chirping loudly at them from its crib. Lance gasped loudly and ran over to the pokemon. "You're just in time. Little guy can leave the nursery finally." Bailey walked up to Lance with Keith following him. The pokemon was a little, baby mudkip. Lance had picked it up and held it in front of him.

"I've missed you, Champ! You can finally travel with me. You can meet Blue. I'm sure you'll love her." Lance hugged the little mudkip, Champ, gently. Champ chirped in delight.

"He's definitely a cute little guy." Keith said, coming to stand next to Lance.

"I know right! He hatched out of his egg too early so he's had to stay here in the nursery until he was old enough and well enough to leave. Now he's ready!" Lance smiled happily, practically jumping in excitement. "Let's go show Blue and Red!" Lance would have ran out of the building if it weren't for the little pokemon in his arms. Keith smirked and rolled his eyes at the other boy before following him out, neither noticing the knowing look on Lance's brother's face as he watched the two exit.

"So you're a pokemon breeder and caretaker?" Keith asked as the two boys sat down in the grass with their pokemon, introducing Champ.

"Basically. I just really love pokemon so I feel like it's the best job for me. Plus, it's easily available." Lance laughed, gesturing to the yard and house around them.

"True." Keith laughed. "It's a nice job to have." Keith pet Red's head and she chirped in agreement.

"Yah. It is." Lance spoke quietly. Watching Keith smile at the pokemon gave Lance a warm feeling in his chest, and he didn't quite mind it. A fond smile formed on his face.

Dinner had went quite well. Keith had met Lance's father, and he had also learned quite a few embarrassing things about Lance's childhood. Like how when Lance was a toddler he had liked to run around in just a dipper and a cape on, pretending he was a superhero who could fly. Or how he would sit in the cribs with the newborn pokemon when he could still fit and refuse to leave them. Or how when he was little he had a terrible habit of raiding his older sister's makeup supplies and trying to give himself a makeover. It usually looked terrible. There were even pictures that Lance's mom was more than happy to show, despite Lance's whines of protest.

They were now getting ready for bed. Their pokemon happily sleeping with the other pokemon downstairs. There was only one more problem to deal with.

"So who gets the top and who gets the bottom?" Keith asked, staring at the bunk bed.

"Well, obviously I should get top. It's my house." Lance announced.

"But I'm the guest, meaning I should get it."

"Hmm nope. I don't think so."

"Well I guess there's no other way to settle this." Keith started. "We have to do rock paper scissors." Lance nodded, determined to win. The two got their fists ready.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!" The two yelled. Lance had paper while Keith used rock.

"Ha! I win! Sucks to suck, Keith." Lance stuck his tongue out at Keith as he climbed the ladder and flopped himself on the top bunk, making the bed wobble slightly with the force.

"I'll get you back next time, Lance." Keith said as he reluctantly turned off the light and then got in his bed on the bottom. It was quiet for a while and Keith assumed Lance had fallen asleep. Just as Keith was about to fall asleep there was a voice.

"Hey, Keith?" Lance started.

"What?"

"Do you ever get homesick?"

"Sometimes. I don't know. I just want to sleep right now. It's late." Lance was silent for a while.

"Hey, Keith?" Lance spoke up. Keith grunted in answer. "Do you think pidgeys have feelings?"

"I don't know. Probably." Keith answered. "Go to sleep." It was quiet for a few more minutes.

"Hey, Keith?"

"Lance, please just shut up."

"Keith~?"

"My god! Lance, shut the fuck up!"

"Wow. Someone's grouchy." There was silence for about 5 minutes and Keith thought it had finally ended. Keith was wrong.

"When I say Vol you say Tron! Vol-" There was a pause as Lance waited for Keith. "Tron." Lance ended up finishing himself.

"I'm gonna give you one more chance to shut the hell up." Keith threatened. He was getting extremely annoyed and agitated. He was tired and wanted to sleep. It was silent for a few minutes when suddenly the bunk started moving, Lance wiggling around on the top shaking the entire thing.

"I can't get comfortable." Lance whined.

"I'm going to kill you." Keith growled out. Keith should have known by now that Lance wasn't going to stop anytime soon because a few minutes later he started again.

"Backstreet's back! Alright!" Lance started to obnoxiously sing. Even singing the instrumental part to the song.

"Damnit, Lance!" Keith kicked Lance's mattress violently to get him to shut up.

"Wow. Did you feel that earthquake just now?" Lance asked afterwards.

"I'm gonna kill you. I really am."

"You're gonna what? That's a threat. I could report you for tha- Woah!" Keith had had enough. He got out of his bed and reached into Lance's, grabbing him and yanking him forcefully off the bed. Lance came tumbling off the top bunk with his blanket, landing on the floor with a thud and a grunt. Keith got back in his bed like nothing happened. "Ow!" Lance yelled. Keith ignored him, facing the wall with his back to Lance. "Can I at least have a pillow? It's uncomfortable on the floor." No response. "Fine. I'll just sleep here then." Lance started to get into Keith's bed. Keith's body stiffened as he felt the shift of weight as Lance got in the bed. 'What the hell was Lance thinking?' Keith thought. 'And why was he freaking out so bad? It's just Lance.' he thought to himself. Perhaps Keith hadn't been completely honest with himself lately when it came to the things he had been feeling recently. With the way his chest would tighten whenever Lance smiled at him. How he loved listening to Lance talk about things he was passionate in, like pokemon. How he never was really mad at Lance for long at all. How he loved seeing Lance genuinely happy... Oh god. Of course he would realize his feelings at the worst time ever. When Lance was laying right next to him. In the same bed! Of course Lance couldn't possibly feel the same way for him. Keith was just a rival and friend to Lance. Nothing more. It hurt to admit to himself, but he couldn't let himself get false hope.

Lance's breathing had slowed to show that he had fallen asleep and Keith somewhat relaxed his tense body. Lance moved a little in his sleep and got closer to Keith. Keith could feel Lance's breath on the back of his neck and he got goosebumps. Lance mumbled something in his sleep and Keith strained his ears to try and hear what Lance was saying. Lance mumbled again a few seconds later and this time Keith was able to hear it. "Keith" Lance had mumbled his name in his sleep. Keith's name. An arm suddenly snaked it's way across Keith's waist and pulled him into Lance's chest. Keith's eyes went wide in shock as Lance nuzzled his face into the back of Keith. Lance couldn't possibly feel the same way for Keith, could he? Keith didn't want false hope, but he couldn't stop the hope from forming in his chest as Lance mumbled his name again, his arm getting tighter around Keith's waist, holding him closer. Keith figured there was nothing he could do about it now and it was just better to worry about it some other time. He decided to let himself fall asleep in Lance's arms tonight.

When Keith woke up the next morning he was alone in the bed. The spot where Lance had been was still warm so he must have just left, Keith figured. He heard a toilet flush and a few seconds later Lance walked back into the room.

"Morning" Keith yawned out, his hair a mess from sleeping on it. They locked eyes and Lance's face turned red, he immediately looked away. 'Fuck. Keith looks too cute like that. No. No. Bad, thoughts. Keith is just a friend.' Lance thought to himself. He mumbled a morning back and walked over to grab his bag from the corner of the room. He had gotten dressed already and was now about to head downstairs to get something to eat before they left again. He shouted to Keith to get ready as he headed downstairs. He needed to clear his head of a certain mullet boy.

Keith was left alone to wonder what all that was about. He shrugged it off though for the moment and got up to change his clothes and get ready to leave too. Once he had finished getting ready he grabbed his bag and headed down the stairs to meet up with Lance. Lance was back to normal when Keith walked into the kitchen. There was a plate of food sitting on the table waiting for him, courtesy of Lance's mom. Lance was just finishing wolfing down his breakfast. Rosa chided him for eating so fast and told him to taste his food a little, which made Keith chuckle. Lance sent a glare at him but smiled soon after.

They soon finished eating and decided it was time to head out. Lance said goodbye to the dogs first, hugging each one. He then went to Bailey and then his parents. "Make sure you come visit again soon!" Lance's mom yelled out as Lance and Keith waved goodbye, walking down the driveway of the house.

"We will!" Lance yelled back. "So where to now?" he questioned Keith as he turned to him. Keith was holding a map in his hands.

"Well, if we go in this direction we can get to this town, here." Keith pointed out on the map for Lance.

"Mhm. I see. I got this." Lance nodded, grabbing the map from Keith's hands and starting to walk away.

"Lance are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Of course. I am a map reading pro. I got this." Lance assured Keith as he reluctantly followed behind before catching up quickly to walk beside Lance.

They had been walking for hours now. They were in an unfamiliar forest and it looked like it was going to storm really soon. "Lance, are you for sure you know where we're going? Maybe you should let me see the map." Keith reached for the map but Lance moved it away from his hands quickly.

"Keith. Buddy. I got this. Relax. I know exactly where we are going."

"Lance, we have passed by this tree three times now." Keith pointed out.

"What? You can't prove that. All these trees look the same."

"This one has a weird hole in it. It's pretty hard to miss." Keith paused. "Let me see the map." Keith snatched the map away from Lance quickly before the other could move it away. "Lance?" Keith asked after a few minutes of observing the map. Lance hummed in answer. "Have you been seriously reading this map upside down for the past 5 hours or more?!"

"What? No. There's no way I was-" Keith shoved the mad in Lance's face, interrupting him, and pointing to the writing on the map that was indeed upside down. "Huh. Oops." Keith groaned loudly.

"I can not believe you got us lost! You are not allowed to use a map ever again."

"Hey! I am a very good map reader. It's your fault I was looking at it upside down." Lance pointed to Keith.

"What? It is not my fault."

"Is too. I took it from you. You were holding it upside down when I took it."

"It wasn't upside down for me! You took it from me and didn't bother to flip it in your direction, you idiot!" The two continued bickering as the clouds got darker above them. There was suddenly a loud crack as a bolt of lightning came down a bit away from them. The two both jumped from the sound, stopping their bickerings to look at where the bolt had struck, and then looking at the sky as rain began to pelt down hard on the two boys. "Shit." Keith cursed.

"I think I saw a cave a little bit back from where we came from. We can stay there until the storm dies." Lance yelled over the rain. Keith just nodded, going with his plan. They wandered for a few minutes before they found the cave Lance was talking about. By the time they got inside, they were soaked to the bone. There clothes dripping from the rain. "Oh my god!" Lance gasped loudly once they got inside far enough that it was dry.

"What?!" Keith asked, worried it was something bad. It was dark and he could barely see his hands in front of him.

"There are logs in here! We're saved!" Lance exclaimed loudly, hugging the log dramatically. Keith let out a breath as he realized it was just Lance being a dork like normal. Though, he had to admit that it was really lucky that the logs were already there. Someone must have been here before and just left what they didn't use behind. And even more lucky, Keith had the perfect pokemon for the job of starting the fire. He asked Red and she complied, blowing a small spark onto the logs and starting up a well sized fire for them all in no time. He pat the small torchic on the head gently to show his thanks and she chirped back at him happily. The pokemon were lucky enough to be in their balls at the time they were outside so they didn't have to worry about being soaked, unlike the two trainers who were drenched. Keith put up his hair in a small ponytail and then started to take off his shirt after he had gotten his jacket off. Lance squeaked quietly in surprise. "Dude! What are you doing?" He asked quickly, his face was turning bright red 'but that could have also been from the heat of the fire', Keith thought.

"I'm taking off my shirt so it can dry and not get me sick. You should do it too. Same with your pants." Keith spoke like it should be obvious to Lance.

"Right. I knew that." Lance huffed as he began taking off his jacket as well, then going to his shirt. Keith rolled his eyes playfully, smirking at the other. Once the two had laid their clothes out on the floor and spread out around the fire to dry, spare their underwear because being completely naked would be too awkward, they sat down on the sleeping bags they had rolled out. They had ended up quite close to each other due to the limited space in the cave. The two sat in silence for a while, each wrapped in a blanket, just watching the fire crackle. The pokemon were all sound asleep in a huddle on the other side of the cave already.

"You know, this is actually pretty fun, despite the fact you totally got us lost." Keith spoke after a while of comfortable silence.

"I didn't get us lost. This was totally planned. I knew about this cave from the beginning." Lance obviously lied, laughing at the end.

"Hm. I'm sure." Keith laughed along with him. Keith thought about what he wanted to say for a bit before he released a breath. "But I'm glad I got stuck with you." He looked over to Lance, a light blush dusting his face. Lance gave him a shocked look, his face red as well. Lance swallowed nothing before speaking.

"Me too." They stared at each other for a few silent seconds, their faces inches apart. Lance's eyes darted down to Keith's lips before going back to his eyes. Lance licked his lips before speaking again. "Can I kiss you?" Keith didn't answer, instead nodding and closing the gap between the two. It was a slow, gentle rhythm. Almost hesitant at first; and then Lance's hand was on the back of Keith's neck, pulling him in closer. The kiss got a little more heated as Keith applied more pressure, getting closer, before the two broke apart to look at the other. "I don't know about you, but I definitely want to be able to do that again." Lance spoke up. Keith laughed.

"Then consider yourself lucky that I'm willing to agree with that." Lance laughed as well before leaning forward to capture Keith's lips in quick kiss.

"That's good then. I'm a very lucky person."

"So you are." Keith pulled Lance's face back to slot their mouths together again, creating a rhythm almost instantly, both boys eager to continue. "I think I could definitely get used to this." Keith mumbled against Lance's lips.

"Me too," Lance paused. "Rival." Keith chuckled lightly, the two both smiled into the kiss.

 **Translation Notes:**  
 **¿Lance? ¿Eres tu? - Lance? Is that you?**  
 **¿Es su novio? - Is he your boyfriend?**  
 **Es muy guapo. - He is very handsome.**  
 **¡Él es sólo un amigo! - He is just a friend!**


End file.
